D'Agostino is the defenseman, right? I'd like to thank the hockey Gods for that nice trick to remember which is which. Good thing Agostino didn't have to put and F for forward in front of his name to make it easier.

For dark horses, I'd pick Agostino, Archibald, and Marcantuoni. Not because they are the best players, but because they will all likely surpass expectations.

I thought about going with uher, but the pens already gave him a contact, so they likely assume he will have a strong camp. Also thought about wilson, but I think his development will be around where they expect after a strong season for UMass-Lowel.

DelPen wrote:D'Agostino is the defenseman, right? I'd like to thank the hockey Gods for that nice trick to remember which is which. Good thing Agostino didn't have to put and F for forward in front of his name to make it easier.

Looks like Despres is ready to go and if I was 100% confident in Niskanen instead of 75% in his role as a top 4 I'd move Martin now to get Despres more ice time.

How many of these guys will be at training camp? Will Marcantuoni get invited back? He seemed like the best forward in the camp this week but our forward depth sucks bad.

Looks like Dumoulin might make the team too depending on how Bortuzzo, Strait and Engellend do in camp. I would not be shocked one bit to see Despres-Dumoulin be the 3rd pairing to open the season with Engellend, Strait and Bortuzzo eating nachos until the defense is sorted out.

DelPen wrote:Looks like Despres is ready to go and if I was 100% confident in Niskanen instead of 75% in his role as a top 4 I'd move Martin now to get Despres more ice time.

How many of these guys will be at training camp? Will Marcantuoni get invited back? He seemed like the best forward in the camp this week but our forward depth sucks bad.

Looks like Dumoulin might make the team too depending on how Bortuzzo, Strait and Engellend do in camp. I would not be shocked one bit to see Despres-Dumoulin be the 3rd pairing to open the season with Engellend, Strait and Bortuzzo eating nachos until the defense is sorted out.

It's really tempting to get these young guys in the lineup. There will be some growing pains, and the coaching staff needs to be careful not to overextend these guys and ruin their confidence, but this has to happen sometime and I'm so excited to see some fresh players in the lineup.

Despres should be a lock for the big club. I wouldn't be surprised to see him paired with Letang by midseason, easing the load on Orpik. I'm not saying that's a lock to happen, but its not outside the realm of possibility.

Dumoulin may be a first year pro, but he has a wealth of experience at the NCAA level and is only a couple months younger than Despres. He's a big bodied defenseman with a defensive focus that could help with the PK and and being defensively responsible.

And then there's Joe Morrow. I could see them following the same script as Despres for him, with a year in the AHL with cups of coffee with the big club when guys get hurt. However, with all the gushing over Joe, both within the organization and without, I could even see him making the big club out of camp, or getting a callup midseason after a trade or injury. Joe Morrow is going to be an absolute stud for this team.

So there it is. Assume Letang, Orpik, Niskanen and Martin are your top 4. Lovejoy, Engo, Strait and Bortuzzo is already 1 too many to keep. Time for Ray to make a deal.